Time since death. An entomological study on corpses

After death, during disintegration, various environmental conditions and fauna play an important role, indicating "time since death." The natural openings of the host body provide the most important breeding place for an agent which could consume the body very quickly, e.g., flies. Wounds are preferred over the natural openings by this agent. In such cases, antemortem wounds become unidentifiable. This paper presents the study of 25 cases in which inferences relating to the maturation of blow fly life stages and the total developmental time of an adult blow fly in breeding experiments in the prevailing environment are drawn. These can be used to help estimate the "time since death" of infested bodies.